Friday, October 29, 2010

Be skeptical of 'silver bullet' solutions

You may hear or see it frequently.

"If we only did this", "all we need is", "just do this, and your problem is solved".

Mind you there are some situations where one simple act fixes a problem. Tightening your gas cap in your car can make the "check engine" light go away, for example.

What's bemusing to read or hear is "most problems have simple solutions". A poster on a site I frequent put it in those exact words. You would frequently see him state "just do x, problem solved. Next!" "If you want the NFL Network, just call DirecTV, order the service, and the nice technician will come by and set it up for you. Problem solved". When he was challenged about folks who live in apartment complexes that didn't allow satellite dishes, "Then you need to move." In other words, unless you're willing to sacrifice every other life consideration and get DirecTV, you  don't really want NFL Network.

Last spring on Mike Huckabee's show on Fox News, he made one of the most vapid, ridiculous analogies I've ever heard. Referring to immigration reform, he scoffed at any notion of the need for comprehensive reform. His analogy: a reference to Curly in the movie City Slickers, and his statement that the secret to life is 'one thing' (where he holds up his index finger). He then segued to his point that the key to immigration reform is 'just one thing' - strengthen border and law enforcement. By the way, that gentleman on that site used the "most problems have simple solutions" line in regard to immigration reform. His next sentence: "this one is simply a matter of law enforcement".

Never mind the potential for human rights abuses. Never mind the fact that ridding this country of those who aren't here legally will not improve the plight of the middle class and economically displaced Americans. I'm not suggesting that better patrol of the border and enforcement of the laws isn't a part of the solution, just that several other things need to be considered.

Too many times people want emotionally satisfying, 'silver bullet' prescriptions to problems that are multi-layered, multi-faceted, and that need to be thought through carefully. People who want the easy, quick fix are ripe for demagogues and swindlers.

Trish Roberts Miller writes in Characteristics of Demagoguery "A demagogue never claims that the situation is complicated to explain, nor that the solution is difficult to grasp. Demagoguery depends upon the perception that political problems and solutions are easy to understand; while demagogues often grant that it may be difficult to implement their solution(s), they almost always assert that the basic concept of the solution is straightforward.

This insistence on the simplicity of the situation may be a rhetorical decision on the part of the demagogue. Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd (the book that was supposed to be the main influence on Hitler's rhetoric) insists that the masses can only grasp simple ideas: 'Whatever be the ideas suggested to crowds they can only exercise influence on condition that they assume a very absolute, uncompromising, and simple shape'

On the other hand, it may be the demagogues really see the situation in such stark and un-nuanced ways. When Hitler's commanders would complain about his orders being unrealistic and try to talk about logistics, he would tell them that it is not logistics, but The Will that wins wars. (He was wrong.)"

As a side note, the whole essay is a good read: http://www.drw.utexas.edu/roberts-miller/handouts/demagoguery

In short, people who insist that a problem is just awaiting one, simple remedy, are most likely easily manipulated, or are themselves manipulators.

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